The invention relates to a device for locking a container to a vehicle chassis, having a housing, which on the housing side toward the container is provided with a protruding guide block; and having a rotary knob, which is supported in the housing and which has a shaft, guided in the guide block, a hammerhead-shaped locking portion protruding past the guide block, and an actuation portion disposed on the opposite direction from the locking portion, the locking being effected by rotation of the rotary knob about an actuation angle of approximately 90.degree..
Locking devices of this kind are known. They can be rapidly released and secured upon transfer from the ship or railroad car to a vehicle or van carrier. Vehicles designed for transporting containers are therefore equipped with such twist locks. To secure them, the hammerhead-shaped upper part of the rotary knob is introduced into a corner casting that is mounted on all the corners of the container, and the knob is then twisted by 90.degree.. To this end, the corner casting has an oblong slot on its underside, which receives the elongated head of the rotary knob. Shifting the head crosswise locks it and secures it against sliding out. This is the simplest way to secure containers on the transporting vehicle.
National guidelines, such as in the Federal Republic of Germany, require not only the locking described above but also an additional force-locking means of securing against unintentional release. To that end, in known devices, the rotary knob is additionally provided with a threaded fastening-down or tight-fastening device. For locking and securing, the user must first put the rotary knob in the locking position; this requires visual checking and possibly correction of the rotational position. After that, the securing nut must also be tightly screwed.
Using this kind of locking device that must be tightly screwed down is time-consuming and involves a risk of injury to the user that cannot be ignored, especially when a soiled or corroded screw device is being loosened. Because container transfers are generally done under constant time pressure, under all weather conditions, and at night when vision is poor, the known locking devices are considered disadvantageous.